“And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you IN THE LAST DAYS (capitals mine).”
Genesis 49:1
“And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with his children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, AND LET HIM DIP HIS FOOT IN OIL (capitals mine).”
Deuteronomy 33:24
Back in the early 1980’s, when my family and I were living outside of Dallas, Texas, I discovered a wonderful radio program on Biblical prophecy called The Southwest Radio Church. It at the time was the longest continuously running radio program in the world having taught Bible prophecy since April 1933. It came on every morning from 6:30 to 7:00 AM and since it took me about a half an hour to drive to work, I made sure I was in my car every day in time to hear the entire program. From listening to their broadcast, buying many of their books and pamphlets, and even attending one of their prophecy conventions, my knowledge and interest in Bible prophecy grew exponentially.
Back in 2019, I was reorganizing my books and I found a very relevant pamphlet from them printed in 1984 that coincided with a recent article I wrote called Why would Russia, Turkey and Iran Invade Israel TODAY?. Since I wrote that piece saying why these named countries will invade Israel to “…take a spoil” (oil?), I have had a few people question whether Israel discovering oil would really cause a major war like the War of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38 & 39).
Let me go back just a moment. Please understand, I have always felt strongly about the 100% accuracy of Bible prophecy. When I listened to the Southwest Radio Church program one morning and they were discussing how the discovery of oil would ultimately cause the aligned countries of Ezekiel 38 & 39 to invade Israel “…to take a spoil”, I said to myself, “To discover oil in Israel means someone is going to have to first drill for oil there.” At that time no one ever had! Doing a little research, I discovered a company called Isramco which was started by an American Christian businessman who also believed if the Bible says oil will be discovered in Israel, there MUST be oil in Israel!
In our generation and since the founding of Israel on May 14, 1948, not only has oil been discovered there but a few years ago they signed an agreement to supply oil to Europe by way of a 2,000-kilometer pipeline from Israel to Greece which will be finished in 2025. This will allow little Israel to supply Europe with almost all of their oil and gas needs. This also means Europe will not have to rely on Russia from whom Europe currently buys much of their oil. Amazingly, I wrote this long before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and European sanctions on Russian oil.
So, what does this have to do with the beginning Scripture on Asher and who exactly is Asher? Asher is one of the 12 sons/half-brothers of Jacob, and who with his 11 brothers ultimately would become known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel. He is the son of Jacob, the grandson of Isaac and the great grandson of Abraham. When Jacob gave each of his twelve sons his personal blessing, he also assigned to each of them separate plots of land with distinct, geographical boundaries.
If you look at the map above, you can see the land in the northwest of Israel given to Asher started on the border of Lebanon and went down along the coast of the Mediterranean to Haifa. From there it dipped down with “toes” before coming back up to the Lebanese border. A little like Italy, its boundaries resemble a leg and foot. Why is the boundary of Asher’s land important? Remember what it says above in Deuteronomy 33:24
“And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with his children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, AND LET HIM DIP HIS FOOT IN OIL (capitals mine).”
Amazingly, not only does the Bible tell us oil will come out of the land of Asher where his “toes” are but it also says it will come out of the head of Joseph. Who is Joseph? Joseph was another son of Jacob who was sold into slavery by his brothers and eventually became the second most powerful man in Egypt. Joseph is the man to which the entire Land of Israel as a nation is attributed. While God Promised Abraham an eternal home of the Jews, it came to fruition under Joseph, one of his great grandsons. The geographical land of Joseph is the Land of Israel!
Relating back to oil in Israel, Genesis 49:25-26 tells us:
“Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, BLESSINGS OF THE DEEP THAT LIETH UNDER (capitals mine), blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph (Israel – at the very northern side of the nation of Israel), and on the crown of the head of him that was separate (Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers) from his brethren.”
Not only are we told oil will be discovered in the land of Asher, but that Asher’s land will be at the very top of the head (northern most side) of Israel. Is it coincidental the Bible says Asher will dip his foot in oil and the whole world would be blessed? Would it be strange that it is in this area where the drilling for oil is happening today? Would it also be coincidental the “toes” of his foot would be in the northern area of Megiddo where Russia and her allies will someday invade Israel and also will be where the Battle of Armageddon is fought? Finally, does it surprise you the Bible told us all this will happen before it happens, and it will happen in the “…last days”?
Me either!
How do we know it is petroleum oil and not olive oil or some other type of oil? Because the Bible tells us so!
“He made him (sons of Jacob) ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him suck honey out of the rock, AND OIL OUT OF THE FLINTY ROCK (capitals mine).”
Deuteronomy 32:13
Oil lays beneath the surface of the earth and pools in porous, or “…flinty” rock. Literally, the oil rigs “…suck” the oil out by their up and down motion which creates a vacuum effect. One thing I found absolutely amazing is that iron being drilled into the ground can cause sparks which could cause an explosion if the spark ignited the oil. On oil rigs today they use brass to drill since it does not spark. Why is this important to this conversation? The Bible tells us right after saying Asher would dip his foot in oil, that in Deuteronomy 33:25: “Thy (Asher) shoes (oil rigs) shall be iron and brass, and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.” Not only will Asher dip his feet in oil, but his feet will be as iron AND brass therefore making drilling for oil much less dangerous! Amazing! And, this was prophesied thousands of years ago, before man even knew what “…oil” in the ground was.
Not only has God told us in the Bible that oil would be discovered in Israel in the “…last days”, but that Russia, Turkey, Iran and others will invade Israel “…to take a spoil.” Of course, we also know these invaders of the War of Gog and Magog (The War of Gog and Magog) will be defeated in just one day by God Himself. No one will come to Israel’s aid. Not the U.S. No one EXCEPT God!
“Sheba (today’s southern Arabia), and Dedan (Saudi Arabia), and the merchants of Tarshish (considered to be part of modern-day Western Europe), with all the young lions (offspring of Great Britain – US, Canada, Australia?) thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou come to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
Ezekiel 38:13
Not even Israel’s closest allies will come to her help! They will question what this group is doing but will not help. Even the Biden Administration has told Israel the U.S. does not support the new pipeline to Europe from Israel. This is not surprising considering the rise of anti-Semitism and today’s UN votes against Israel. Most people are not even aware of the EastMed pipeline that will take the liquefied natural gas to Europe from Israel through Crete, Cyprus, and Greece. Crete and Cyprus are in disputed waters of Turkey. We all know Russia has been hurt dramatically by the sanctions imposed on them for their invasion of Ukraine. Also, the “mysterious” destruction of the Nord Stream Russian pipeline from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea has greatly reduced Russia’s sales of oil to Europe. Iran is selling oil to Europe. These three countries would be decimated by cheap natural gas being sold to Europe by Israel. This new EastMed pipeline is scheduled to begin sending oil to Europe by 2025! Could this trigger the War of Gog and Magog?
After 3,000 years of Bible prophecy, we are seeing fulfillment of yet another event unfolding right before our very eyes TODAY! We are THAT generation that sees all these prophecies coming true will not pass until ALL these things happen. Seeing them occur exactly as the Bible said in direct contrast to what the world expected or believed is comforting to know. There is NO fake news in the Bible! Read it! Believe it!
Once these things happen, the War of Gog and Magog will begin shortly, and we also know the Rapture of Believers is IMMINENT today! Join me in taking comfort in knowing the Bible has told us all these things before they happened and believe they WILL soon happen in OUR generation! And do as we are all told to do and that is to “…therefore comfort one another with these words.”
May God Bless you!